Philadelphia here I come.

 
I spotted this sign for Philadelphia out in the German countryside and was told that just a little bit up the road there was also New Boston.  What a curiosity in a country where all town names are very definitely of their native language!

Holger, the Mayor of Gross Schauen where we played, told me the story.  

The village church where we played a concert on Friday.

In the early 1800s many people left Germany to travel to America.   The only German seaports lie on the north coast - Bremen and Hamburg. People from the south, Bavaria and Thuringen had to pass through this region on their long walk to the North.  

The King spotted this and asked where they were going and they told him America.  So he said "this can be America". Stay here and I will give you land and seeds. He had recently heard about the wonder crop of potatoes and offered them all seed crops.  So he named the towns Philadelphia and New Boston - the people stayed and grew potatoes and the region started to grow and flourish.  To this day they still have a potato festival every year.